Blood Orange Beet Bowl

I got super lucky this week and landed a small stash of blood oranges from a neighbor. This happened to coincide with a craving for roasted beets, which I had already planned to make. Tired of my usual beet-goatcheese-pepita-oliveoil salad, I decided to merge these two heartbreakers into one bloody beet bowl. This is how it went down...

IN ADVANCE: I roasted the beets coated in a bit of olive oil and salt in a 350 oven for nearly an hour. This is sketchy, because I was cooking other things at the same time, on and off. It's an art. Not a science. Once out and cooled I slipped their dirty skins off. That sounds mildly sexual. Oh well. Then I cut them into 1" chunks a tossed them into a jar in the fridge for later.

NEXT: I prepped two small blood oranges by cutting the peel off with a serrated knife. I usually take the tiny pith core out too. I cut these into bite sized chunks.

AND THEN: I combined the orange pieces with 3/4 to 1 cup of the beets in a bowl, and grated (~ 2 teaspoons to 1 Tablespoon of) fresh ginger root right on top. Then a drizzle of honey, and a sprinkle of salt to bring out the full flavors.

Done! I think you could still safely add goat cheese, if you so desire. Or perhaps go super savory and do garlic instead of honey, and toss in some finely sliced red onion or shallots...

Beets produce the most perfect shade of magenta ever.

PS >>>>>>---------> Forgive my iPhonography, I was documenting on the fly!

Meatless Monday: Gary's T-Night Tacos

We did it again! Continuing on the New Year track we vowed to stay meatless on Mondays--even the Mister, who planned his lunch around Fresh-n-Easy offerings, and snuck in a chicken thigh at 11-something last night.

Tonight's recipe was awesome, and direct from Laurie David's Family Dinner cookbook. We are a taco-lovin, bean eating bunch so Gary's T-Night Tacos seemed a perfect match. Using two onions (Shhh!), black beans and the secret ingredients of maple syrup and tamari, this hearty filling made fantastic tacos (and burritos for the boys).

For toppings we used thinly sliced cabbage, fresh avocado, chopped tomato and cucumber, Greek yogurt and shredded cheese. Instead of the dressing suggested for cucumber salsa, I used a lime cilantro dressing I had already made for another recipe. The boys ate theirs without the dressing, but with most of the other toppings.

Max ate about 2/3 of his, Beck finished his off, and, well, the pan is now empty. I consider it a success!

Oh, and after dinner we got all cuddly and weepy watching this awesome cover (from some locals) of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros "Home". Then, this great studio clip of the real deal...

Good Morning Granola

When trying to come up with this year's (okay, now last year's)  handmade holiday gift the boys expressed a VERY strong preference for cooking, versus crafting. Cool. In order to guarantee the "handmade"part of the deal, I came up with granola. Easy enough for kids to measure, stir, and add their own creative ingredients (and mine). Two factors came in to play on this recipe...ONE, I wanted a granola that I could eat without feeling guilty. TWO, it absolutely had to be inspired by the granola at my favorite bakery--Bread & Cie.

Martha Stewart FOOD helped with requirement number ONE. As for inspiration from Bread & Cie.? That's where the Corn Pops came in. It's not even that I had this cereal as a kid (I didn't) or that I crave it as an adult (I don't). It's just that Corn Pops bring a bit of whimsy and surprise to an otherwise quiet concoction.

GOOD MORNING GRANOLA makes 8 delicious cups

ingredients 4 cups old fashioned rolled oats 1 cup toasted wheat gern 1/2 cup flax seed 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger 1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds 1/2 cup pepita seeds 1 cup chopped walnuts 1 1/2 cups Corn Pops 1/2 cup dried berries 5 tablespoons robust molasses 3 tablespoons maple syrup 1/3 cup olive oil 1/3 cup water

directions 1. Heat oven to 300 degrees with rack in center. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, wheat germ, flax seed, cinnamon, ginger, seeds, and walnuts. In a small bowl, combine molasses, oil, and 1/3 cup water and pour over the oat mixture. Stir well until well coated. Spread evenly in two baking pans

2. Bake, stirring every 20 minutes or so for even cooking until dry and lightly browned--about 45 minutes. Let granola cool to room temperature, add Corn Pops and berries then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

The boys were liberal with the cinnamon, and added dried cranberries. I threw in the pepita seeds for extra nutrients and crunch. We used olive oil instead of the recommended canola oil, and we added maple syrup because we had just watched Elf, and Elf puts maple syrup on everything....

In the end, we thought it was a huge hit. I even used it as a topping with Greek yogurt and our Orange Challah French Toast!